By: D.K Choudhary
India unanimously elected as President of UN-Habitat
i. India has been unanimously elected as the President of UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations Organisation.ii. Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu is chairing the four-day meeting of the 58-member Governing Council of UN-Habitat at Nairobi in Kenya that began on 8th May 2017.
iii. The theme of the 26th meeting of the council is ‘Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda’
Haryana to start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident
i. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has decided to gather a detailed data of every resident and issue a sleek identity for every house in Haryana.ii. The objective of this two-month long data generating exercise, to be launched on June 15, 2017 is to get details of land holdings and status of facilities.
iii. The facilities includes social security pension, scholarship, MGNREGA, loans and LPG connection. During the survey, address of each house, location, details of owner of the house, bank account numbers, IFSC code and Aadhaar and personal details will be gathered.
Techmagnate acquires BlogX, the largest blog conference in India
i. Techmagnate, India’s leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX, India’s largest blog conference where bloggers and content managers connect.ii. In the event, top bloggers from across the country share their experiences and stories of journey towards becoming successful bloggers. The blogger’s meet emphasizes on content, relationship and brand building.
Ola ties-up with Airtel to roll out integrated digital offerings to customers
i. India’s largest cab aggregator Ola has partnered with Bharti Airtel to launch a range of integrated digital offerings to customers.ii. As part of the partnership, Ola will integrate Airtel Payments bank to its app and Airtel will integrate Ola’s mobile wallet Ola Money as a payment solution on Airtel website and MyAirtel app for mobile recharges and bill payments.
Oracle signs MoU with Jharkhand for cloud-based citizen services
i. The Government of Jharkhand and Oracle signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) intended to improve cloud-based citizen services and to make Jharkhand an attractive destination for start-ups.ii. Oracle will offer its support to the state through its vast portfolio of technology solutions, including Oracle Cloud.
iii. As part of the MoU, the Government of Jharkhand and Oracle will jointly explore and identify areas in which Oracle’s latest cloud-based technologies can be used to deliver improved citizen services and to address the state’s citizen and business requirements.
DIPP & WIPO to set up Technology and Innovation Support Centers
i. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have signed an agreement to establish Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC).ii. WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high-quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their intellectual property (IP) rights.
India to grow at 7.7 per cent in 2018-19: IMF
i. India’s growth is expected to rebound to 7.2 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal and 7.7 percent in 2018-19 after disruptions caused by demonetization, as per the IMF (International Monetary Fund) report.ii. According to the report, growth in Asia is forecast to accelerate to 5.5 percent in 2017 from 5.3 percent in 2016. Growth in China and Japan is revised upward for 2017 compared to the October 2016 World Economic Outlook.
Sohail Mahmood to replace Abdul Basit as Pakistan’s envoy to India
i. The government of Pakistan has approved the appointment of Sohail Mahmood as Pakistan’s next high commissioner to India.
ii. Mahmood is a top diplomat of Pakistan and will replace the incumbent envoy to India Abdul Basit this month.
Edelweiss Tokio launches India’s first life insurance Product
i. Edelweiss Tokio launched India’s first and the simplest life insurance product that can be bought at a point of sale (PoS) has finally been launched.ii. Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has recently launched PoS Saral Nivesh the first product to be approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) guidelines on point of sale-life insurance products.
iii. PoS Saral Nivesh is a non-linked, non-participating endowment life insurance plan which offers both protection and saving.
Jordan, US launch Eager Lion military exercise
i. Jordan and the United States kicked off Eager Lion, an annual military exercise in Jordan with about 7,400 troops from more than 20 nations taking part.
ii. Jordan is a key recipient of US financial aid and a partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
Venu Rajamony appointed India’s Ambassador to Netherlands
i. Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee and senior diplomat Venu Rajamony has been appointed India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands.ii. Mr. Rajamony will also be India’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague and cover the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other international organisations based in the Netherland.
Emma Watson bags first ever ‘genderless’ award
i. Hollywood actor Emma Watson picked up the first-ever Genderless Acting Award for the Best Actor category for “Beauty and the Beast” at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.ii. The star, who first became known for her role as Hermione in the Harry Potter films, is a feminist campaigner and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador. “Beauty and the Beast” also won movie of the year.
‘Lion’ actor Sunny Pawar named Rising Star at Asian Awards
i. Child actor Sunny Pawar, best known for his performance in the Oscar-nominated film Lion, has been chosen for the Rising Star Award.
ii. The award will be presented to Sunny at the 7th Annual Asian Awards. He portrayed young Saroo Brierley in the film.
Adil Hussain’s Mukti Bhawan wins the Best Film award at the New York Indian Film Festival
i. “Mukti Bhawan”, a movie about a man who accompanies his father on a journey to Varanasi, has won the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
ii. NYIFF was held in New York between April 30-May 7, 2017.
Logo and mascot of Asian Athletics Championships unveiled in Odisha capital
i. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has unveiled the logo and mascot of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar from July 6 to 9, 2017.ii. Mr. Patnaik also formally announced Bhubaneswar as the host for the sports event. The mascot, named Olly Turtle, depicts the Olive Ridley turtles.
Heena Sidhu wins bronze in Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championship
i. Heena Sindhu claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol as India ended the Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championships in Czech Republic with seven medals.ii. On the final day of the championship, Heena shot 218.8 in the eight-woman final, won by Greek shooter Anna Korakaki claimed gold medal sot 246.3 to finish ahead of Germany’s rising star, Michelle Skeries took silver with a score of 237.8.
Important Takeaways from above GK Update for Exams are as follows-
- India is unanimously elected as President of UN-Habitat
- UN habitat was established in 1978
- India has been earlier elected as President in 1988 and 2007
- M Venkaiah Naidu is chairing the four-day meeting of the 58-member Governing Council of UN-Habitat at Nairobi in Kenya
- The theme of the 26th meeting of the council is ‘Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda’
- Jharkhand govt and Oracle signed a MoU intended to improve cloud-based citizen services
- CM of Jharkhand is Raghubar Das and Governor is Draupadi Murmu
- Headquarter of Oracle is in the United States of America.
- India to grow at 7.7 percent in 2018-19 according to IMF report
- Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries
- IMF is Headquartered in Washington, D.C.
- Managing Director of IMF is Christine Lagarde.
- DIPP & WIPO have signed an agreement to set up Technology and Innovation Support Centers
- Full form of DIPP is The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and full form of WIPO is World Intellectual Property Organization
- DIPP comes under the Government Of India-Ministry Of Commerce & Industry
- WIPO headquarter is in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Logo and mascot of Asian Athletics Championships unveiled in Bhubaneshwar
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has unveiled the logo and mascot
- 22nd Asian Athletics Championships will be held in Odisha
- The mascot is named as Olly Turtle.
- India’s largest cab aggregator Ola has partnered with Bharti Airtel
- Gopal Vittal is the MD & CEO (India & South Asia) Bharti Airtel
- Emma Watson bags first ever ‘genderless’ award for her role in “Beauty and the Beast”
- She is also the UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador
- “Beauty and the Beast” also won movie of the year at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
- Haryana govt has decided start door-to-door survey to collect data of every resident and issue a sleek identity for every house
- CM of Haryana is Manohar Lal Khattar and Governor is Kaptan Singh Solanki.
- Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance launched India’s first insurance product Saral Nivesh that can be bought at PoS
- Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance headquarter is in Mumbai.
- Techmagnate, India’s leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX
- Founder of BlogX is Manmeet Pal Singh and CEO of Techmagnate is SarveshBagla
- Venu Rajamony has been appointed India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands.
- The capital of Netherland is Amsterdam and its Currency is Euro.
- Heena Sindhu claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol at Grand Prix of Liberation Plezn 2017 Shooting championship
- Greek shooter Anna Korakaki claimed a gold medal and Germany’s Michelle Skeries claimed a silver medal.
